


There are some debts you'll never pay

by voices_in_my_head



Category: Da Vinci's Demons
Genre: 52 weeks challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-28
Updated: 2016-04-28
Packaged: 2018-06-05 02:56:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6686350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voices_in_my_head/pseuds/voices_in_my_head
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one where at the end of s1 ep1 Riario meets Zo at the bar.</p>
            </blockquote>





	There are some debts you'll never pay

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: a story set in a country you've never been to, in this case, Italy.
> 
> Just a little ficlet that wouldn't leave me alone.

Zo had been shuffling his pack of tarot cards when an unknown man entered the bar. It wasn’t that Zo knew every single person in Florence; that was basically impossible in a city so big, but he certainly knew everyone that frequented the less “respectable” places in the city. And this man was an unknown.

Zo followed him with his eyes, still shuffling the cards, but slower. He was accompanied by two men, who stopped short at the door, clearly looking down at everyone and everything around them. Guards, more likely than not. Perhaps this was a rich man who liked certain depravities and didn’t want the world to know? He certainly looked rich, and not just his clothes, but the way he walked. Zo was good at noticing these things.

The man seemed to be looking for someone, slowly walking around the room, glancing at everyone’s face, quickly but with eyes that, Zo was sure, could see everything in a glance. He spent a couple more seconds than usual looking at Zo, who decided to take it as a compliment and smirked at him. The man looked away at that but Zo was pretty sure he’d seen his lips go up just slightly. Well, Zo couldn’t blame him; he had that effect on people.

The man didn’t seem to find what or whom he was looking for, because he went back to his men. To Zo’s surprise, instead of leaving with them, he seemed to tell them to go without him, which they did easily. That wasn’t normal bodyguard behaviour. Perhaps something else was going on. Was he a policeman? No, that wasn’t possible. Zo knew his friends well, but he knew his enemies even better. Though he could be a new one… he decided to keep an eye out for him.

To Zo’s surprise the man started walking towards him. Of course, he could just be walking towards his general direction, but something told Zo that that wasn’t the case. The man was looking straight at him, walking with purpose towards him, and more importantly, like someone who’d never been denied. He must be very rich indeed.

“Would you mind if I sat?” The man asked with a pleasant smile and it was gorgeous without a doubt but Zo knew people well, and he could tell there were shadows behind them; dark ones. Still, Zo was curious, so telling himself he was only doing it because he didn’t want any trouble on that particular night, he just nodded.

The man sat still smiling, like he hadn’t truly expected anything else. He probably hadn’t, the rich bastard.

“What’s your name?” Zo decided to ask, in a rough manner, just to see his reaction and also because he liked putting names to people’s faces, even if they weren’t real.

The man kept the smile up for some seconds before giving up the answer in a low tone, but still very much audible, “Girolamo.”

A very Italian name, Zo thought.

“And yours?”

“Zoroaster, but most people just call me Zo.”

“Well, Zoroaster,” the man said his name with a slight intensity on the Z and Zo would be damned if he didn’t find that extremely appellative, to say the least, “what brings you to this fine establishment?”

Zo laughed, “come on, mate. I know you’re not from here, but it doesn’t mean you have to pretend this isn’t the shadiest place in the whole of Florence, if not Italy.”

“I highly doubt that,” Girolamo said in a tone that immediately put Zo on alert, making a mental note on how sure the other man sounded, like he hadn’t just been in the shadiest places, but like how he might be part of them as well. This man could prove very dangerous and Zo liked danger as much as any man, but there were limits. But Zo was also a man that couldn’t simply walk away from a beautiful being, a bit like Leonardo, really.

“I gather you’re not from these parts,” Zo said, changing the subject. Girolamo sent him a look that said he understood his tactic, though Zo couldn’t tell if he was thankful for it or not.

“No,” Girolamo said, but didn’t continue. Zo almost went to press further but he had the impression the other man would simply walk away if pushed too hard. Zo couldn’t say he would miss him terribly; he’d only just met him, but it wasn’t like there was much going on with his night in other aspects, so he might as well enjoy the company.

“Would you like to choose a card?” Zo asked, once again changing the subject, and picking up the deck from the top of the table, where he’d put it once Girolamo hat sat.

Girolamo didn’t immediately answer, letting his eyes drop to the cards before slowly raising them up and he had gorgeous eyelashes. Just because Zo didn’t paint, it didn’t mean he didn’t notice those details.

“Thank you, but I don’t need a card telling me my future.”

“They don’t. They’re just a little help for when you’re feeling confuse about what to do next.”

“Who says I’m confused?” Girolamo asked with a raised brow. He didn’t sound accusatory, a bit curious perhaps, but there was still that glint that told Zo that he was playing with fire, and fire as everyone knew, could burn very fast.

Zo shrugged, deciding to go for casual. “Aren’t we all? I’ve never met a single soul that has their lives completely figured out.”

“In a place like this, you wouldn’t,” Girolamo said and Zo smiled at him for that, almost laughing, but deciding that that would ruin the moment. Perhaps not ruin, but the little tension would probably disappear, and he was quite enjoying to see how much he could say without Girolamo just walking away or pulling a knife at him, because Zo didn’t believe for a single moment the other man was unarmed. Hell, it wasn’t like he was.

“So you never have doubts?”

“About what exactly?” Girolamo asked and this time there was a challenging look in his eyes. Zo just couldn’t tell if it was telling him to back off or to continue.

“Life. Your job. Women. Money. God,” he concluded, already knowing that that last word would get a reaction from the other man, and in fact it did. It wasn’t anything big, just a little clench of his jaw, gone in a flash.

“You doubt God?” Girolamo asked and this time Zo could tell he was definitely getting too close to the cliff. It was just a matter of jumping himself or being pushed.

Zo didn’t answer the first thing that came to mind, or even the second or third. He had been enjoying this little go and forth but he couldn’t let go of the fact that Girolamo was dangerous, and that this was a personal matter to him. The smart thing would probably be to smile and answer, “of course not” and even if Girolamo didn’t believe it, he would more likely than not just let Zo walk away. But Zo being who he was, couldn’t simply take the easy way out.

“Sometimes. How can you not? There’s poverty everywhere. And wars and death and sickness and the whole world’s messed up.”

“So you blame God for humanity’s sins?” Girolamo asked, though it didn’t sound as dangerous anymore. Zo couldn’t tell exactly what it sounded like, however. Like he’d heard this before? Like the answer wasn’t as bad as it could have been?

“No. They’re our mistakes. But if God exists, then why let us do what we want? Kill his children?”

“Free will is the biggest gift God has given us.”

Zo nodded, because he’d heard that before but it had never sat completely right with him. It just felt like people didn’t want to look too closely at the chances of God not being real or even worse, existing and truly not caring on what his children were doing.

“So no doubts on anything on your life?” Zo decided to change the subject once again, also growing a bit bored with the man in front of him. He still hadn’t deciphered him, but he expected that to be a harder job than even he could do in a night. Not to mention that Girolamo would without a doubt not appreciate that. It was like playing with a wolf pretending to be a dog. You both knew he could attack at any moment; it was just a matter of choice.

“If I do, I’ll tell them in the confessionary,” Girolamo answered, also in a tone that said the conversation was coming to an end.

Zo almost went to reply with, “I’m sure you do,” but stopped himself in time. He really was in no mood for a fight, that he would most likely lose, anyhow. Unless of course he used dirty tactics, which he always did. No point in fighting, or really, doing anything in life, if it wasn’t to win.

Girolamo got up with grace, as he probably did everything.

“Well, as enjoyable as this evening has been, I am afraid it is time for me to retire. I have a big day tomorrow,” it was unsaid that he thought Zo did not. “Goodnight.”

Zo waved at him, “goodbye. I doubt we’ll be seeing each other again.”

“Oh, you never know,” Girolamo said with a smile that put Zo on edge, like he knew a secret no one else did, and then he was walking away, still with a step full of purpose. Zo wondered what it was like to be sure of every action on one’s life. Or perhaps, to be so deep in unthinkable actions that you couldn’t afford to have doubts. Either way, Zo decided that as attractive as the other man was, he would try to keep his distance from him. Sometimes you just had to step away from the fire, no matter how warm it was.

 


End file.
